Changes Part II
by Tarqass
Summary: It all happened when Robin became Nightwing...
1. Blood

"What's the problem?" the young hero asked, throwing a few pieces of bat-shaped metal at him. "You look disconcerted."

"I don't know," Klarion shrugged. He effortlessly deflected the thin shards with a simple flick of his hand before they reached him. "You can always ask him," a plasma dragon shot out from his palm.

Nightwing quickly leapt sideways. Even though with the quick reaction, the energy blast still missed him by just inches, scorching his raven-black hair.

_Guess who else isn't concerted?_ the archer, on the other side of Nightwing, thought. The two had been firing arrows and batarangs at Klarion for like, fifteen minutes, to no avail. Klarion was hard to take down even for superpowered Meta, let alone ordinary humans!

_M'gann, we need backup,_ the archer sent a mental message to Miss Martian, but the Martian replied, _Negative. All Team members are busy._

Everyone else was fighting members of the Light. _But still! Klarion the frikkin Witch Boy here! The most powerful one, remember?_

_Artemis—_Miss Martian's reply was cut short, and the telepathic link was down.

_M'gann! _The call echoed emptily inside her head. _She's in trouble._ But there was no time to worry about that now.

"Ugh!" Artemis said aloud as her arrows exploded on the bubble floating next to the boy. His companion, Teekl, was curled up safely inside. It was grooming itself with rhythmic licks, its eyes closed.

_Where's Zatanna when you need her? _Artemis was getting pissed at the thought of wasting her arrows like that, while Zatanna was fighting comfortably with the League.

_And Aquagirl and Tempest,_ she added. Basically all "baby-magic" Teammates were gone. _Perfect._

"This is pointless!" Artemis shouted to her Teammate throwing batarangs on the other side. "We have been doing the same thing over and over!"

He just gave her a slight nod before returning his attention on Klarion.

Klarion grinned, "Did your mum ever tell you not to take things that aren't yours?"

"Did your mum ever tell you to behave?" Nightwing retorted after dodging his beams. He aimed about a dozen more batarangs at him.

"No, and do you honestly think your _toys_ can harm me?" the boy teased. He lazily flung one of the batarangs on the ground. After that a shower of beams fired from his hands. Nightiwing sprang away from the first one, the second one, but not the third one. He was too occupied that he did not dodge the fireball in time; he was hit and fell on the ground.

The Artemis crouching behind Klarion nearly gasped. She heard a different voice inside her head, _Either get traught, or get dead._

Thinking that he was winning, Klarion walked up to his attacker in triumph. Teekl purred in the bubble. For a moment Nightwing was lying still, but then his chest jerked up and down vigorously as he coughed out blood.

"Ugh, just die already!" Klarion said disgustedly. Teekl's neck fur rose up with a hiss.

"Sorry to disappoint," Nightwing coughed out his response.

"Need a little help?" A fireball formed in Klarion's palm.

"PASS. _You_ need help?" Nightwing still managed to mock defiantly at the confused villain, despite his condition. Klarion realised he had forgotten about something. He turned around, but was too late.

Artemis jumped up from where she was hiding. She leapt up with all her might and released her bowstring.

Nightwing got him distracted long enough for Artemis to take action. It occurred too fast it happened in a blur. Klarion's eyes followed a startled yowl to find the now-pierced bubble. The semi-transparent sphere was wearing off, like water dissolving soap. An arrow caught the weirdly-striped creature inside. It fell. Without the bubble to support it, it dropped onto the floor. Blood gurgled in its throat as it tried to make a sound.

"Teekl!" the Witch Boy ran up to the poor animal, now on the floor. "You!" he roared at the young heroes. "You _dare_ hurt this helpless, innocent cat!" He raised his arms, ready to make the next blow.

"Don't even _think_ about it," Artemis warned slowly. She loaded her bow and stepped closer to them.

The Witch Boy turned back to Teekl. He stared at his familiar in panic. Teekl spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Fine," he cooed in a smooth voice. It was more like to his cat than to the Team. He then resumed to Nightwing and Artemis in a whiny voice, "We're gone. _This time._ But don't get _too_ happy; you're _sooo _gonna pay for this!"

Klarion stood up with Teekl in his arms. He snapped his fingers and then the next moment, he and his cat were gone.

Nightwing was still lying on the ground, giving a few weak coughs. Artemis went up to his side and knelt down to talk to him.

"Sorry. I didn't act early enough." Artemis started.

Nightwing smiled in encouragement, "The plan still worked.

"Way to get traught."

"Hey, thank Zee instead. She did the spell on my arrow," Artemis knelt down to talk to him.

"And thank _you_ for shooting them."

Artemis returned a faint smile._ And thank _you_ for distracting him. _Artemis kept the thought to herself. There was no way she could win this.

"Shh," Artemis pressed him back down gently, seeing as blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. "Stop talking. You need rest."

"I've had worse. Remember when the Joker—" he continued stubbornly, but stopped in astonishment when Artemis pecked him softly on the forehead.

Her lips moved away from him once they touched him; the kiss was almost nonexistent, but it really was there. Nightwing did not react to it. He did not return the affection—nothing. He simply _could_ not.

Who knew her soft, luscious lips could actually be that electrifying? Nightwing was rooted to the spot, unable to move or speak.

Technically this Artemis and the other Artemis from the parallel dimension were the same person, but even a small peck from _her_ was far from the other's passion. Maybe it was because being in the same dimension with this Artemis felt more… real. They had had been through so much together, after all. However, those 0.5 seconds were in no way realistic at all.It felt like years, even decades for Nightwing. He was so dizzy and could not stand up.

_Okay, stay whelmed,_ Nightwing told himself. Luckily he could always use his injury as an excuse to remain laid down.

_Aqualad speaking. Beta and Delta squads, report._ The link was back.

_We—Delta squad—were just done here. Nightwing is hurt, but nothing serious, _Artemis reported. Nightwing had the sense to shut up for once.

_Great, cus we could use a little bit of help here._ This time it was Miss Martian who called.

**Part II of **_**Changes**_**, here it is! Not **_**that **_**bad but still bad.**

**Thank you for continuing to follow **_**Changes**_**. Loyal readers, you know who you are. ;) I really appreciate that.**

**For those who don't know, this is a semi-continuation of **_**Changes**_** (part I). I'll tell you the summarised version of the major plot points:**

**-Robin became Nightwing in the first chapter**

**-Zatanna, Rocket and Batgirl were his exes**

**-In a mission, the Gamma squad (Zatanna, Rocket and Nightwing) visited a parallel dimension**

**-Zatanna left for the Justice League towards the end of Part I**


	2. Hurt

"Well, well, let's see who we've got here…" Queen Bee beamed in her melodic tone. Her happiness seemed to be genuine, if not for the cold gleam in her blue eyes.

Devastation was holding Superboy by the neck with her powerful grip. Queen Bee walked up to study the squirming Superboy, "… a Kryptonian cloned from the stolen DNA of Superman… the clone itself is a lesser version of the big man himself," she paused. "Which is unfortunate, might I add."

Superboy had more important things to focus on than to answer.

But she was not finished there, "Ah, and floating there looking pretty as usual I see, _Martian_?"

Queen Bee stressed the last word of her sentence through gritted teeth.

Icicle Junior followed her eyes and saw a blurred shape, almost invisible, among the surroundings. His hands shot out with white aura piercing through the air so fast "it" did not have time to move.

"—!" Miss Martian, no longer in camouflage mode, was caught off-guard by the ice blast. Her entire body was trapped in ice.

"Be still while everyone is trying take a glimpse your _pretty_ face, heartbreaker!" he sneered.

"M'gann!" Superboy roared. He wriggled more vigorously.

"Oh, would like to join her, _Kent_?" Junior sneered, then added to his co-worker, "Now, get out of the way." It was hard to aim at the Terror-imposter when Devastation was moving in front of him.

"M'GANN!" Superboy was suddenly fueled with the energy to send Devastation flying five metres away. Before Junior could shoot him with the ice beam, he ran up to him and knocked him down with a forceful punch. He ignored the unconscious body on the ground and was continued running towards M'gann.

"Now, be nice," Queen Bee shunned softly. Devastation cracked her knuckles.

"I am," another voice replied.

An arrow flew out of where the voice came from. It fitted perfectly on the smooth ice. After that a soaking-wet Martian was freed from the ice, gasping for breath.

"Last but not least, _Artemis,_" Queen Bee enunciated clearly without haste, "Who just _have_ to be here _every_ time to foil my plans," she ended with a snarl.

Artemis, Miss Martian and Superboy were facing Devastation, Queen Bee and an unconscious Icicle Junior; it seemed like the Team was on the upper hand.

But the villains were not discouraged. "I have an id—" Queen Bee started.

"I've got an even better id—," Superboy interrupted, about to throw a punch at her.

"Do me a favour and kill Artemis and that _lovely_ Martian girl over there, please," Queen Bee ordered him quietly.

Superboy turned to face his Teammates.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Artemis said to her friend beside her. They were outnumbered.

Artemis reached for the quiver at her back. She used up most of her arrows on the battle with Klarion. She clenched her fists on her bow; she was ready for hand-to-hand combat.

But the fight never came. A water ball hit the Bialyan ruler. By the cave corridor were a green gorilla accompanied by Kid Flash, followed by Aqualad.

"Sorry, didn't join you guys in time," the beast morphed into a green humanoid, "Brain's paid us a visit."

"Glad you didn't," Artemis's gaze swept over the all-male squad.

"Let's get on with _my_ idea," Superboy bumped the distracted Devastation. Her head hit the stairs and was also knocked out.

"That and get you to Belle Reve," Superboy dumped the unconscious Devastation with the others forming a pile.

"Did I just hear a joke? From _you_?" KF remarked. "Very funny. Learnt that from Cadmus?"

Without waiting for a reply, the speedster spun around to study the scene.

"Souvenir... souvenir… so many, which to choose…" he said to himself.

Artemis gave him a smack at the back of his head.

"Ow! What's that for?" the red-headed speedster asked crossly.

"Told you not to get any more of your stupid souvenirs!" Artemis argued.

"So what if I do?" Wally shouted back with Queen Bee's silk veil in his hand.

"Stop it, you two," Aqualad interrupted. "I have a better question: why is the Light after us and how did they find us?"

"Yeah, you—!" Wally struggled to find the right words.

"Klarion said something about us taking things that aren't ours," Artemis answered, ignoring Wally. "He meant the transporter cannon I guess. And no, we can't catch him this time." She finally yelled at Wally hotheadedly, "See! Look at the trouble you've gotten us into!" _Stupid jerk._

"Lucky Psimon wasn't here," Miss Martian remarked. "We'd really be outnumbered then."

Miss Martian was observant enough to see Kaldur was deep in thought.

_I'm not reading your mind, but I know you're still upset over Tula's murder. I'm very sorry he isn't captured. The Team—Delta squad—have done all their best, I promise, _she had made sure the link was kept private before sounding in the Atlantean joint leader's head.

"Where's Nightwing?" was the only lame response Wally could think of.

Back at the hall, Nightwing saw the approaching Team and tried to sit up again.

"You left him here? Unguarded? With Light on the loose?" Wally immediately accused the archer.

"One Light member per squad, so he's safe!" Artemis retorted. _DUH._

Of course she had not forgotten about Nightwing.

Ignoring her reply, Wally ran up to his best friend, "Dude, how are you?!" concern edged his voice.

"Totally feeling… the aster…" Nightwing grunted at the effort.

"How about Artemis? How was she doing?"

"Great. Why?"

Artemis coughed, "_Some_one thinks I'm not doing good enough!" She fought back the urge to stab the Wallace Rudolph West in front of her.

Nightwing turned his back (for the 100,000,000th time) in his hospital bed. He had just woken up.

Something had been bothering him.

No, it was not because of his injuries—not his _physical_ injuries at least. Sure, he still ached a bit when he moved, but it felt much better and he could walk already.

Something _else_ had been bothering him…

Since the ambush, whenever Nightwing rested his gaze on Artemis's, Artemis would either a) look away, b) start a topic with someone else, or c) both. Nightwing wondered if he had done something wrong.

He would like to tell her something. It had been three years; Nightwing had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to tell her, and now she was ignoring him.

_*sigh*_

It filled his every thought that he could _really _only rest during those few rare hours of sleep. Apparently a sleep deficiency was exactly what he needed for recovery.

He sat up and stared blankly at the white wall. He decided he wanted to look at something different other than the white ceiling, during his sleepless nights.

Still buried in his own mind, something caught the corner of his eye; a card was standing on the table next to his bed, among several older ones. The card itself was nothing much, but it was its simplicity that made it that it stood out from the rest, all with bright colours and flashy letters. Instead the pale card only had some neat handwriting written in black ink. Nightwing strained his eyes to read the small font:

_Get well soon. –Artemis_

Nightwing smiled and got back to sleep.


	3. Celebration

Artemis was reading the newspaper on the couch. The headline on the first page caught her attention:

**BILLIONAIRE FUNDS ORPHANAGE**

Bruce Wayne Donates $100,000,000 to Kids' Home

_For the 100,000,000__th__ Time,_ the archer added.

Seriously, better facilities and education apparently had no use when lowering crime rates in Gotham. The only useful thing that was actually useful living in there was to learn how to throw punches, which was what she did. Luckily. Even luckier was that she moved to the safer Central City now, with Wally.

It somehow reminded her. She made a mental note to visit Nightwing in the hospital…

… _or _not.

She would not know what to say—what to explain…

She winced.

"Babe, it's a while since we went out," the speedster's spoke from the kitchen, breaking into her thoughts. "How about we travel somewhere farther this time?"

Artemis put down the newspaper. "Sure, hon."

Her boyfriend did not notice the slight hesitation and went on casually. "A one-month trip to Paris for our third anniversary?"

Artemis dipped down her head guiltily to study her lap, then decided it would be better if she played along.

"Paris, really? …So cliché," she said.

"Oh yeah? Where do you suggest we go then?" Wally asked not-so-gently.

Just as she was about to reply, her phone rang.

Saved by the bell, literally.

"_Sorry,_" Artemis smirked smugly at Wally before picking up her phone from her pocket.

She pressed the 'receive call' button, "Hello? Artemis speaking."

"Hi, Dinah here," answered the other end of the phone. It was the quiet voice of Black Canary.

"Hey, long time no see!" Artemis called enthusiastically. "What is it?"

"See, Ollie and I are getting married—"

"Oh wow, congratulations!"

"I've called to ask you something—"

"Ooh I know I know, you're going to ask me to be your bridesmaid!" Artemis got even more excited.

"Well, something like that…"

"The answer is 'YES'!" the Leaguer's reply was once again cut short. The ecstatic Artemis had to slow down her words to make her question heard, "Wh—what's the time? Where's the place?"

"…"

"Got it! I'll be there! Bye!" Artemis hung up without waiting for a reply. She sprinted up the stairs, leaving a pouting Wally by the fridge.

Artemis walked to one side of her room, then the other. It was her first time to ever participate in a wedding; she was so happy for the couple she realised she had never felt so free from her personal worries. What she did not realise were the dangers lying ahead of her…

"…_Actually, I was going to ask you to be our maid of honour!"_ Black Canary had said.

"_Cool!" _Artemis had let out a squeal of excitement. Being a maid of honour was even more of an, well, honour—all the more the wedding must be perfect. Artemis made sure every single detail was done flawlessly.

A pastel green dress. Check. Hair tied up with a white ribbon. Check. Eyeliner and pale lipstick. Applying.

"…_How about rest of the Team?"_ Artemis had asked the bride.

"_The Light could easily figure out your secret IDs if you all go. I'm sorry. This will be just between you and me, alright?"_ Dinah replied._ "Well, and the other guests of course."_

She kept the refinements minimal to fit her style. Also, that would not steal away the attention from the bride herself.

Plus, even with full makeup, Artemis doubted she would ever be prettier than her anyway.

It was the second time she had attended a rehearsal. She remembered her parts well, but the couple always forgot what to do in the ceremony, even the most basic things, such as saying 'I will' instead of 'I do'—they must be very anxious!

Despite that, Artemis could not feel any more pleased for them. She had known them for a very long time they were basically like a family now.

Artemis suddenly put on the lid on her lipstick and slammed it on the table with a small 'clack'.

"How _nice_ it is to see you here," she growled at the reflection in the mirror; the figure of a person was by the door of her dressing room.

The intruder was not intimated by the sharpness in her tone. "Can't say the same about you, Miss Crock," he admitted. He also shrugged, as seen from the mirror.

"Wait… how do you know my name?"

"…" was his reply.

"Ha, I _knew_ it! You and your little Chesh-Chesh!" Artemis cracked up.

His face turned into a bright shade of red that matched his hair.

"So what do you want, Harper?" Artemis demanded breathlessly after laughing for a minute straight.

"Nothing. Just dropping by to say hi," Roy Harper replied hastily. He was glad of the subject change. He added more slyly, "And just checking if my dear_ friend_ here is having fun with my little _present_."

"Present? What you—" Artemis stammered. That Red Whatsit saying anything good would definitely mean bad for her. "I—I'll be ready for you! I have my bow with me!"

"Aaanyway, see you around. Don't wanna miss lunch!" he went out sight.

_Okay,_ she calmed herself down, as to not explode due to annoyance._ Just get on with your makeup._

Alone in her room once again, to enjoy the peace and quiet, she picked up her lipstick and continued to fill in her lips with that deep red colour.

To make sure the red pigment was evenly spread, she gave a finishing touch with a smack of her lips. _Perfect._

Now, to the hard(er) part: the eyeliner.

Although having never touched makeup before, drawing a single line around her eyes should not be difficult for her; she was used to getting her hands steady.

_Now, where did I put my eyeliner?_ Artemis put an entire arm in her bag and searched blindly inside.

_There!_ She took out an eyeliner.

She took off the lid and saw…

_Okay, a _yellow_ eyeliner? Who the hell even wears _yellow_ eyeliner?_

Artemis did have a right to be mad; her black eyeliner was switched to a yellow one—a bright, neon yellow eyeliner.

She immediately thought of a suspect.

But instead of shooting an arrow in his face, Artemis got a better idea.

After lunchtime, everyone was in the hall for a quick rundown. Artemis borrowed a _normal-looking _black eyeliner from another bridesmaid. Nothing tricky, she could cope. As for Harper's, well, more… unchangeable.

She held her breath when the two other archers strode out.

Like Green Arrow's, the former Speedy's hair was gelled back neatly. As much as Artemis hated to admit, that auburn colour stood up really well against his black tuxedo, velvet tie and glossy pair of leather shoes.

He must have had looked, ahem, _eye-catching_, to say the least.

Artemis scowled. She always seemed to be upstaged by anyone but _him_.

"Artemis? _Artemis?_" Dinah asked.

Hey, maybe if Artemis glared at him hard enough she might actually burn a hole through him.

Oliver Queen was already giving a speech on the stage. "I must thank…"

Artemis did not care whom he needed to thank. She did not move away her eyes from her 'friend'.

"I take it we're enemies, then," the redhead sneaked behind Artemis and mumbled in her ear once the rehearsal had finished.

"I'm _thrilled_ you finally found out, RedArrow," Artemis turned to the speaker. She continued sarcastically, "Oh, and brownie points for _such_ an original name."

"…Not so original anymore, now that you've dyed them pink," he grimaced.

Bright, neon-pink_ with glitter_.

"Change it back, or—" he ordered, only to get speechless with an instant retort from the younger archer.

"—or what? You gonna shoot me, _Pink_ Arrow?"

He grunted.

_Bring it._

**Not the most exciting chapter, a 'breather' chapter—Nightwing still has to rest!**

**Inspired by **_**Bekkoni**_**'s Justice League one-shot fanfics and **_**Jana Girl123**_**'s JL FF **_**Wedding Bells and Fishnets**_**.**


	4. Cougar

"Come at least ONCE man, it'll be fun!" his friend Wally West cried. In this place though, he was better known as 'Kid Flash'.

"Sorry, can't. I already told you, I've got—" Nightwing answered.

"—a party. Yeah yeah I know," the speedster ended dully.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I'll come next year 'kay?" Nightwing promised as he took out the comm-link in his ear.

_That's right: I missed the Halloween party for the third year in a row,_ Nightwing aka Dick Grayson thought, unmasked, as he was tying his tie carefully while looking into the mirror.

Kaldur finally accepted M'gann's invitation to the fete in Happy Harbour.

Coincidentally, her old school's celebration was held on the same day as Dick's.

Even without Zatanna and Raquel this time, four people would be enough.

_They'll still get to have fun without me. _Dick checked himself in the mirror one last time—he looked formal enough.

wwwwwwwwww

MEANWHILE, AT CENTRAL CITY…

"Mum, how do I look?" Artemis asked.

"You look just fine, dear. But you're going to have to look more… solemn," her mother replied from her wheelchair. "A dress, maybe?"

_Pfft,_ Artemis got back to her room and closed the door. She dumped the clothes she had been wearing on her bed; a brown jacket, a white top and a pair of skinny jeans she wore so often.

_I think_ _I just _might_ have a damn dress here somewhere,_ Artemis randomly picked out a dress and put it on. _Ready to go._

wwwwwwwwww

_Recovered just in time for this, _Dick Grayson thought while on his way. _Thankfully nothing too physically demanding. _He was going to a reunion party at Gotham Academy.

He was going to Gotham Academy, situated in Gotham.

Gotham.

Memories flooded back to him; he lived there, he grew up there, he fought side-by-side with Batman there, everything… it was also where he decided to leave his mentor and left the place.

Not that he hated that place, do not get him wrong. But, as he had said, '…but I don't want to be _the_ Batman anymore'. He realised the sacrifices his former mentor had to make, plus the fact that he had to make those sacrifices _everyday_, until Martian Manhunter's telepathic stimulation exercise—being Batman was more than taking out a few bad guys and saving the day.

Plus, Batman can be difficult to get along with.

wwwwwwwwww

_The Dynamic Duo was fighting in the dark alleys of Gotham City._

_Batman punched one of the goons. He went backward a few steps away to tend for his broken nose. It was long enough for Nightwing—Robin then—to plant a few wires on his chest. An electric shock was sent to the man with the broken nose via the wires. The thug was knocked out._

_Five goons fainted on the floor in total, their guns a bit further away—they were able to take them out quickly without breaking a sweat._

_The two stood watching them to catch up their breath. A 'meow' indicated the entrance of a green-eyed woman with skintight spandex. She leapt down the corridor._

"_Seeing as you nearly killed me, consider us even," she observed the unconscious henchmen with her head tilted to one side. "Tell Black Mask I said 'hi'."_

"_Not stealing tonight?" Batman asked in his intimidating voice. Catwoman was not carrying any jewel._

"_Nah—at last not yet, I'm busy," unflinching, she was used to that tone. "It seems that Selina Kyle owe you boys a debt." She turned to the two._

"_Thank you, Mister Batman," she continued in the most seductive voice possible._

"_And Boy _Wonder_," her face moved closer to take a closer look. It was so close her sweet-smelling scent filled Robin's nostrils._

"_Oh, Boy Wonder… you _are_ a wonder," she breathed as her hand trailed down to those abdominal muscles, rock-hard with the years of crime-fighting._

"_Well, well, I should be off now," Selina suddenly broke off, her cat-shaped ears moved away from him. "Getting a bit late for jewel exhibition in the museum. Good night, boys." With that she disappeared with her whip._

"_Ugh, how old is she anyway!" Robin said as she bounded away._

"_Help out Alfred in the Manor, _Dick_," Batman said._

"_Don't tell me you're jealous!"_

"…"

_Robin sighed and headed to Wayne Manor._

wwwwwwwwww

**Rushed to finish this chapter so I didn't triple-check. Sorry for the mistakes.**

**Update;; edited earlier chapter because FanFiction keeps deleting horizontal lines. Hopefully they'll show this time.**


	5. Reflection

"Hey, Artemis!" that blonde a zebra crossing away was waving frantically at her. "How do I look?" she shouted over the traffic.

"Hello-oo," Artemis answered uncertainly, struggling to figure out whom she was. It was hard, since she had half of her face covered and all.

The blonde crossed the road to her side, "Well?"

"Oh, _Bette_. Bette Kane. Of course! Hi!" Artemis finally cried._ HELLO Artemis!_ "You look unrecognisable."

"Damn right!" her former schoolmate babbled on as she took the feathery mask off her face. She really did look unrecognisable; her golden ponytail and her toned skin looked as if shining against her sleek black dress.

The two friends had arranged to meet on the streets of Gotham. How could she forget that?

Before Artemis could take another step…

"Are you forgetting about something, Artemis Crock?" Bette stopped her.

"Nah-uh!" Artemis took out a simple mask to match her green dress.

"Good. Now we can go."

wwwwwwwwww

A banner hung on the small building near front door of the school. It read: **Gotham Academy Graduates' Reunion 2019**.

The two friends headed to the school hall. That was where the other Gotham Academy graduates were gathered.

Or, to be more precise, that was where the other _masked_ Gotham Academy graduates were gathered.

The masked figures filled the hall. They were either were dancing in pairs to the slow music playing or were grabbing refreshments.

"I think we should start with the dancing first," Bette decided.

They wandered into a random corner of the dancing graduates.

"Hi, you must be May!"

"You must be Sarah!"

"Gary!"

Bette could recognise the people behind the masks almost instantly. Artemis wondered how she did this.

"Now we get partners," Bette murmured to Artemis.

They a dancing couple caught their eyes in particular.

The girl's seamless hair flowed on her shoulders. She was wearing a champagne dress and a pair of golden earrings, which further contrasted the redness of her hair—they made her hair look scarlet even.

The boy, just like the other guys, was wearing a black suit and a tie with his hair gelled back. Yet something about him just seemed… different; the way he talked, the way he walked… his bright blue eyes pierced from the slits on his mask.

"Excuse me, I have to get a drink," the red-haired girl told her partner.

As she waded through the waltzing crowd, she spotted the two blondes on the side.

"Good evening, Bette, Artemis!" she greeted excitedly.

_Woah._ People with the power to identify people through masks never failed to amaze Artemis.

"Come, join in!" the red-haired girl led them back to the crowd.

"Look, it's Bette and Artemis!" she exclaimed to her partner.

"Long time no see." The boy with the azure eyes seemed interested.

"Care to dance with me?" he magically appeared next to Artemis and offered his hand.

"Er, don't you have a partner?" Artemis asked politely.

"Don't worry, we're just done here."

"Oo-kay." Artemis hesitantly took the hand and shot a helpless glance at her blond friend. She did not care she got to find a partner sooner than her friend, she just wanted to get it done and over with. She was awkward in social situations, especially the ones that involved dancing. Also, everyone wearing masks here meant she was like being blind.

She shot another helpless glance to the red-haired girl, but she was gone already.

wwwwwwwwww

MEANWHILE, AT MOUNT JUSTICE…

Wally West was thrilled for the costume he picked this year. It was very cool in his opinion. He examined the makeup on his arm, careful not to smudge it.

"Man, I wonder what Kaldur will dress up as," he wondered aloud. "This guy lacks creativity, you know."

"Yeah right," Conner the Grim Reaper looked at Wally the Pirate.

"Recognise. Aqualad. B. Zero. One," the Zeta announced the Atlantean's arrival.

"Apologies, I am late," the joint leader put on the helmet. "How do I look?"

"Fabulous, Kaldur!" Cleopatra M'gann ran forward to marvel at his realistic Black Manta armour. "How did you do that…!"

"Not bad, not bad," the pirate pretended he was not being envious. "At least, way better than dressing up as that gay starfish…"

wwwwwwwwww

"So, do I, like, know you?" Artemis asked as swayed gently with the beat.

"Oh yes, you do, Artemis," those blue eyes gleamed with amusement. "We _both_ do."

_We actually do?_

"Excuse me, I have to go to the washroom."

"Okay. I'll dance with your lady friend while I wait."

He went up to Bette Kane. She just walked away crossly from her brown-haired dance partner. Apparently that did not end well.

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Artemis went to the sink to think this through.

_So, I know him. He knows me too… then who is he? _Artemis splashed on her face.

The cold tap water did not help freshen her mind; her mind was still as blank as ever—she could not think of a fellow schoolmate with that height!

_Perhaps I should not care about this stuff too much._

After all, Artemis did not exactly have a joyful experience in Gotham Academy; she only switched to that school during the last few years of high school, so it still all very foreign for her even at the last academic year. She only studied in there just because Mum wanted her to.

The education and the teaching there were great and everything, but they were too… aristocratic for her, she did not feel at home. There was this one guy called Dick Grayson (and Bette of course), who was very nice and helpful to her, but perhaps a bit _too_ nice and helpful, she felt slightly uncomfortable at his presence.

Then suddenly the reflection of Bette Kane panicking interrupted her thoughts,

"I-i-it's—"


	6. Preparation

"Slow down, B. What is it?" Artemis demanded.

"It's—THE FRIGGIN' JOKER!" Bette finally breathed out. The message had left her panting.

"Thank you for telling that. Now run as fast as you can!"

"_Either get traught, or get dead."_

Artemis managed to maintain a straight face while calmly giving out orders to her friend.

"B-but what about you?" Bette asked in dismay.

"I'll be fine. I know archery, remember? I'll cover your back—go!"

Although her legs were shaking, she knew she had to pretend to be traught for the sake of her former schoolmates, and even herself.

"Fine. J-just be quick, will you?" she hurried off.

Artemis, now with her head clear and alert, knew exactly what she was going to do. She hurried to one of the toilet rooms and locked the door.

She had her costume and archery kit in her bag. She took them out and put on her custom-tailored leotard. And after loading her bow, she was ready.

She kicked the door open.

It was a universally-known fact that Joker was murderous and unpredictable. If she was lucky, she might just get down there before anyone got killed.

Might.

The arrow loaded in her bow could allow her to escape. _But no, _Artemis told herself. This was exactly what she trained up for: to save the innocent, not to kill them. She had to prove Sportsmaster wrong.

She aimed at a pillar downstairs. It released a wire hooked on firmly on the tiles, which allowed Artemis to slide down there with her bow.

wwwwwwwwww

"Thank you! Thank you all!" Joker stood at the centre of the stage, thanking the audiences below. He was bowing down so low his forehead touched his toes. He had a knife in his hand. Underneath the graduates seemed to be laughing merrily—no wait—spasms twitched rigidly on their faces… looked kind of scary actually.

"Oh, that's _wonderful_, Mistah J. Everyone's so… so… _entertained_!" a woman shrilled at the vast scene. She rubbed off a tear from her eye.

"Don't you interrupt, woman! No one is asking for _your_ opinion!" Joker barked.

The woman shut up at once.

He spoke to her in a gentler voice, "Manners, manners. We have another guest here. Can't just leave him hangin', eh?"

For a homicidal clown, that was the closest way of saying "sorry". His partner's cheeks lifted and her eyes returned to their bright blue gleam.

He turned back at the hall, "Gotta admit, I _do_ love performing in parties. It gives me such… _joy_ to see their happy faces."

Some of the "audiences" fell limp on the floor.

"Happy, yes? I know." Joker's voice was almost down to a whisper.

"I don't," another voice added sternly.

The reply came from Artemis. With that also came an arrow fired at his direction.

Artemis was no fool. An insane criminal like him speaking in a low voice was usually when he was most dangerous. Her gaze swept across the hallway. She still could not identify those masked faces. Hopefully she would not see anyone familiar.

"Alas, new guest! Gotta prepare," Joker flipped through his pockets clumsily. In the process his knife deflected the incoming arrow.

"Aw, pity. It was cute," Joker remarked at the arrow by his feet. "But no worries, I'll pay you back!"

He waved his hand to signal the woman on stage to hand him a bazooka. He put it on his shoulder, ready to fire.

A thin piece of metal came out of nowhere and hit his leg, knocking him off-balance. The bazooka misfired and set the nearby curtains in a ball of fire instead.

"Normally I'd mind party-pooping but… you made it all the way here? To attend my show? I'm impressed." Joker spoke to the person by the doorway.

"Well, I'm _pressed_ that you've hurt these people," that person replied.

Like the other graduates, he was masked.

Unlike the others, Artemis felt safe in his presence.

She was not alone against this clown anymore.

It was _Nightwing_.

"Did you just run out of ideas, Nightwing? That's… quite lame." Relieved, Artemis ran up to his side.

Here came the Batglare, er, Nightglare.

"Really? Oh well, I'll just ask this young lady over here then." Joker spoke just in time to save Nightwing from the embarrassment. He pulled something from backstage; a chair with a graduate tied up to it. Noises of dragging it echoed eerily around the hall, accompanied by the maniacal laughter around.

"Let me go, _please_!" the former student pleaded desperately.

Even without her mask, Artemis could not make out her features behind those blood streaks and that distorted expression. To make it even harder, her unkempt hair covered half of her face; she looked unrecognisable.

However, those shiny locks undoubtedly belonged to Bette Kane.

Artemis just had a heart attack.

"_After_ you've answered my question, dear: are you having fun?" The "entertainer" put the loose curl back behind her ear.

Seconds later he answered the question for the poor girl,

"Oh, 'course you're having fun, sugar. Why the long face? It doesn't hurt to smile a bit, _does_ it?" His head moved down to the same level as hers'. Blood slowly oozed out from her cheek underneath his blade.

The wide-eyed Artemis could not move a muscle—she was going to witness her friend being butchered!

It was Nightwing who threw another piece of thin metal to send his knife flying from his hand.

"Gah, not again!" Joker shook his scratched hand.

"Now that is rude, spoiling the party like that—twice!" he shouted at Nightwing.

With another wave of his hand, the woman quickly picked up the bazooka on the floor and fired blindly at Nightwing.

"Naughty behaviour must not go unpunished!" Joker said.

Nightwing continued leaping away from the woman's weapon, while managing to throw a few batarangs during time gaps. Artemis tried to clear her mind to focus on the Joker, but he kept dodging and blocking the arrows with _yet_ another knife from his pocket.

wwwwwwwwww

"Artemis!"

The archer thought someone was calling her name.

Artemis turned her head just in time to see Nightwing knocking that woman away.

Too late. She already pulled the trigger during her fall.

The rocket she fired did not hit her, but the force of the blast tossed Artemis metres away. Artemis landed on her head with a thud,

"Ugh!"

"Artemis!" Nightwing repeated urgently. He knocked the woman unconscious with a batarang.

"I'm fine! I can still—!" Artemis shouted before her Teammate reached her. She ignored her headache and tried to aim at Joker.

Then she could not remember what happened next.

wwwwwwwwww

A strange smell.

Smelt sterile, something unnatural.

Something… foreign.

_What is this place?_

*gasp*

Artemis blinked her eyes open to find that she was lying in a hospital bed. She was woken up by a series of prods at her side,

"Hey, _hey_, wake up!"

"I'm already awake, silly!" Artemis growled at him half-heartedly.

"Thank God you're alive!" the visitor exclaimed. "Here, I brought you something, beautiful." He handed her a packet.

"Chicken Whizzies? Best kind of gift you can think of, _Wall-man_?" she teased.

"I can always give you a Barbie doll, if you want."

"You _jackass_." Artemis pretended to punch his arm.

"Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it!" Wally held his gaze for a moment, then soft kiss landed on her forehead.

"Anyways, gotta go. Mission in twenty minutes. See you later, bye!" The speedster ran off with his super-speed.

_Hmm._ Just a minute passed and she was bored already. She sat up staring blankly at the walls. She hated to admit that she did pop a few Chicken Whizzies in her mouth, but just to kill the time.

Just then, a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," Artemis called.

Another visitor crept in the room and greeted, "Good afternoon, Artemis."

"Oh. Nightwing. Right. Hi. W-what happened?" Artemis asked confusedly.

"You blacked out. I had to save you," Nightwing explained curtly.

"So, let me get this straight: the Joker got away?"

"Yes, he got away," his reply confirmed her guess. "Sorry."

"You're 'sorry'?! Do you have any idea—"

"Did you just snap at me?" Nightwing's tone was expressionless. Did she just see a flash of rage flicked across his face?

"Sorry I—" Artemis wished she could just keep her mouth shut.

"Artemis," Nightwing put a finger on her lips before she finished her apology.

_Oh snap._

"Artemis," he repeated.

"Are you saying they're more important? Of _course_ I had to save you first!" he murmured softly before he left.

After seeing the door closing behind his back, Artemis immediately dived her head into the sheets. Without her facemask, she could feel her cheeks burning against the soft cotton.

_What is going on?_

wwwwwwwwww

**Firstly, suggestions for future plotlines will be very much appreciated, because I don't know how long my imagination will last. Harsh, honest critiques are just as much loved. :)**

**Secondly, bonus feature: I sketched a redesign of Harley Quinn. You can view the finishing piece at (remove spaces): sites . google site /myselffong /home /harley . png**

**Basically, I'd like to study Design in uni so I'm preparing for my portfolio. So, yeah, tell me what you think! My hands are shaky so it took me hours to finish. And hence, no colouring, shading or drawing in Photoshop.**

**Also, gratitude x 1000 if you can tell me what I'd need to do to apply for this subject!**

**So, ideas please, people!**

**Joker: Or else…**

**Woman: Or else you'd give them a hug Mistah J?**

**Joker: Of course! Who doesn't love a warm, friendly**__**hug? Except Batsy I mean…**


	7. Mystery

Inside Mount Justice, Wally and Nightwing were discussing the hottest topic:

"What did Kaldur dressed up as at the Halloween party?"

"I know right? Coolest. Thing. Ever."

"Erm actually, I wasn't there."

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Conner collapsed on his bed. He was so tired. He just wanted to be left alone now, except—

"Conner!" M'gann sounded a bit keener than usual.

"What is it, M'gann—" he asked, then turned speechless.

"—woah." His surprised expression was mixed with a look of confusion:

He was seeing a Martian in sexy underwear at the edge of his bed.

"I-it's not bedtime yet!" Conner exclaimed.

"You got a problem with that?" the Martian muttered in his ear. She was by his chest now. "Just sit back and enjoy the show," she shushed.

Conner wondered where she learnt all that.

_Well, she does watch a lot of TV._

Not that it mattered really.

She sat up and unhooked her pink bra slowly (not that she needed to).

_Moment of truth!_

"Aqualad to Team. Report to the mission room in five," Kaldur's voice rang in the loudspeakers around the cave.

"Eek!" M'gann's costume morphed back onto her body in a blink. She flew to the door. Conner followed, making sure to TURN OFF the lights behind him.

wwwwwwwwww

"The Intergang is shipping Apokoliptian tech weapons to Earth. We need people from our side to infiltrate them to find out exactly how and why," Aqualad introduced.

"We suspect that the Light is behind this too. They already recognised some of our Teammates. Therefore, we need new faces for this undercover mission," he continued.

"Since Miss M's shape-shifting ability have been proven useful, she'll be leading this op," Nightwing joined the joint leader to help elaborate. "Our newest member, Pixie, will be joining her in this as well," he gestured at the back.

All eyes turned to the new girl with her hazel-coloured hair tied up in a bun.

"Um, hi, Team," she waved timidly behind the crowd. She felt slightly uncomfortable at the unwanted attention, but waved back nonetheless.

But the mission briefing was not over. Everyone eventually turned back to the joint leaders—much to Pixie's relief.

"Is that why you've called us all here?" Superboy asked with arms crossed (presumably pissed).

"No. The rest of you will have to assist them, and to investigate of course," Aqualad answered.

"Superboy, Beast Boy and I are Beta, to find out whom Intergang is working with.

"Artemis, Kid Flash and Nightwing are Delta, to stop whoever is behind it," Aqualad replied.

Nightwing's eyes widened in surprise; the Atlantean had not mentioned about extra squads. He whispered in a voice only they could hear, "That's… quite ambitious. Are you sure?"

"We do not have a choice. This Intergang activity has been going on for too long," Aqualad whispered back.

"The Light may be behind it… you might meet… you-know-who…"

"Then by Neptune's beard, I will greet him as an old _friend_."

"Man, you and me, it'll be just like old times!" This time it was Kid Flash who spoke to Nightwing. He nudged him as he spoke.

wwwwwwwwww

Of course, the Team still had not finished getting to know the new girl. M'gann and Artemis were the first to walk up to her. Another female member = more girl time!

"Welcome to the Team! I will be working in the same squad as you in this mission. I'm M'gann M'orzz, but call me Miss Martian, or Megan off-duty," M'gann did not hesitate to introduce herself to the shy girl.

"And I'm Artemis, welcome!" the archer also greeted.

"There are also Conner, Kaldur, Garfield, Nightwing and Kid Flash. I'm sure they will be pleased to work with you too," M'gann beamed.

Then here came the interrogation part,

"Who's your mentor?" M'gann asked.

"Er… self-taught to control my superpowers," she started off in a small voice.

"Cool! Our Teammates also provide combat training.

"So, what should we call you?"

"Pixie."

"No, not your alias," M'gann giggled. "As in… a real life name?"

"This _is_ real life!"

"Oh." M'gann could not help but feel disappointed.

"Pixie, you can trust us," Artemis reassured the new Teammate, her tone not scornful.

What irony! _She _of all people talking about trust?

"That's alright, Pixie. You can tell us when you're ready."

Pixie blinked in gratitude.

"Hey, Pixie! How did you know of the Team?"

"How long have you been a hero?"

"Pixie…!"

wwwwwwwwww

**The next semester is coming and Mum will kill me if I don't focus on academics. So in the meantime, I'll probably write something shorter (and less serious) instead or work on this only in longer holidays, or both.**


	8. Hard

She could behave like her targets and could mimic their appearances to take their places. Undercover missions were easy for Miss Martian.

But not this one. According to Aqualad, they had to actually get _inside_ and gain their trust—the 'their' being Ugly and Whisper, the heads of Intergang.

Superboy had had dealt with Apokoliptian tech before, his experience would greatly assist them—

Except he was not in their squad.

Well, he surely was not helping either, when he jumped in with the rest of Beta squad and confronted Intergang.

"The Sphere detects Apokoliptian tech here, turns out it's you guys again," Superboy hopped off from his Superbike with the others, sighing.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I surprise ya?" Ugly asked, the metallic rods on his armour formed a canon and shot out something. Superboy started dodging energy discs.

Superboy leapt backwards while Aqualad slashed a disc above where Superboy's head had been two seconds ago.

"So that means you're never handing them back," Superboy said.

"Guess you're right Mr Detective," Ugly answered sarcastically.

"'Hilarious'," Superboy quoted. He ran towards him. "Well party's over," he raised hand in the shape of a fist.

"Wut's the hurry? I'm not done yet," Ugly signalled two of his henchmen to come forward. They stopped what they had been doing (drilling through the rock) and obeyed. They punched the metallic equipment in their hands to the ground and a path of quicksand emerged in Superboy's direction.

"How could I miss out the fun?" Whisper at the side said. From each side of her waist she pulled out a whip in each of her hands and ran to the approaching Beast Boy. Beast Boy simply morphed into a green heron and snatched the whips away from her hands.

On the other side, Aqualad tried to leap sideways but a few inches his foot was still caught in the 'mud'. His whole body was dragged waist-deep into the muddy trap at an instant. Superboy leapt away too, except he landed on Ugly's face.

"Now I know why you're called 'Ugly'," Superboy remarked.

Ugly still had his armour with him. He shot yet more discs at Superboy so that he jumped away to dodge again.

_Two henchmen armed with Apokoliptian weapons,_ Superboy stared at the two armoured men as he got to his feet.

Another two henchmen were trying to trap the green rhino with quicksand—the gang had came prepared this time.

_We're definitely outnumbered._

"Miss _Martian_, a bit of your _telekinesis_ would really help, you know!" Superboy deliberately called to the air above.

_M'gann, do your thing!_ he signalled to his Teammate.

"The Martian girl is here!" the unarmed Whisper warned.

M'gann turned and nodded to Pixie. Studying her carefully for the first time, M'gann had never noticed Pixie's emerald eyes; her pink eyemask really made the hue stood out, along with the pink gemstone dangling against her long, white neck. Her clear, turqoise eyes looked translucent as ever.

Her new Teammate nodded back. M'gann shook the thought away and camouflaged herself. They then both leapt down the hole leading to the underground, into the midst of the fight.

M'gann immediately sent the henchmen's heads crashing against each other's, leaving them unconscious. She mentally pulled out Aqualad and the green rhino out of the quicksand. The rhino charged at the two henchmen before it.

"Give up Ugly. We're winning. Now put your tail between your legs and flee," Superboy sneered at the Ugly in his grasp. "Who am I kidding. I'm just gonna punch you."

Miss Martian spoke firmly to the Kryptonian's head, _Negative, Superboy. We're interrogating hi—_

A beam hit Superboy from behind. Ugly gasped freely for breath.

It was no accident. A second one, a third one, and both Beast Boy and Aqualad were down.

Miss Martian turned her head in mid-air to see the source of the surprise attack; she saw Pixie standing beneath the underground hole.

Her heels clicked gently against the hard rock as she took a few steps forward to meet the two. Her turquoise gaze landed on Ugly's.

"Hey, ain't never seen ya before," Ugly rubbed his neck.

"Hmm, thought this is the part where you thank me." Pixie offered a hand to Ugly nonetheless. "For saving your _fat_ ass?" Pixie was a natural in acting—who would have had guessed she could have a 360° change in her personality?

Ugly took the hand and got up. "Well here goes meh shirt," he patted off the dust from his slightly-torn black turtleneck. "You see girly, teenagers are annoyin'."

"The name's _Pixie_," the female narrowed her eyes a bit.

"Wuteva ya say missy. Now yer helpin' me dig the hole or not?" the boss questioned.

"You just accidentally _bump_ into a random stranger and expects her to _help _you without questions? Aren't you supposed to tell her why?" Pixie put her hands on her hips.

"Ya helped me once, so get on with it!" he snorted.

Pixie went on. "Not even when I've told you you're missing something?" she smirked, holding something in her hand. Ugly could barely see the faint outline of a long-haired girl held by the collar in her strong grip, eyes wide in shock.

"Thanks I guess, Pixie gal," Ugly finally admitted.

A disc hovered above that 'something' and emitted electricity. A single one would suffice. Miss Martian de-camouflaged and was caught under the disc.

"Don't think about it. I'm just being all kind and stuff," Pixie replied over Miss Martian's call of agony.

"We'll discuss this business in private then," he continued. "Seein' as we're obviously busted, we gotta go before the League comes."

He took out a boomtube device and pressed on one of the buttons. Something that resembled a blackhole appeared in the empty space next to him.

"And I don't want them eavesdroppin'," Ugly turned his head to the young protégés on the ground. "Teenagers _are_ annoyin'," he repeated before walking into the blackhole.

"Welcome to the crew…" Whisper raised a skeptical brow as she walked pass.

Pixie glanced coldly at Miss Martian before stepping into the tunnel.

"Why…" Miss Martian managed to grit out the word.

They were gone.

wwwwwwwwww

**Just heard a piece of news (true story) that someone drugged a 5-year-old boy and dug out his eyeballs. The eyeballs were found days later. Right now I am vomiting in a bucket on my lap while I type. It is 3 in the morning, and does not plan to sleep anytime soon, because I do not wish to wake up to find my eyeball missing. Thought I'd share it here since it sounds EXACTLY what a supervillain would do.**

**Also, if you're wondering, Pixie isn't my persona or something. I do not have brown hair. I do not have green eyes. I do not have a bun. I do not have that personality. I am not Caucasian. I do not have superpowers.**

**Lastly, I have to apologise for having to postpone the parody series as promised. I'm planning to release it after I've covered most if not all of this volume's storylines.**

**Thank you for your continued support, and hope the little boy will be fine,**

**Tarqass**


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